Moonbeam Marge

Moonbeam Marge,
had a large
jar to catch the stars in.

Lid screwed tight,
with all her might,
she'd wish for limes and sloe gin.

xoxo

Limited Edition of 5 Handmade ACEO's listed here.

More nonsense

Over the past week or so I've been trying to come up with another nonsense poem. I've written plenty of terrible stuff over that period. Today however, I have managed to come up with something fabulous that I can't share just yet because it isn't nearly done.

I shared the little bit I do have with the kid and husband at the dinner table. They both rolled their eyes and shook their heads. Because they don't have any taste at all that means it's brilliant! Woo hoo! Keep your fingers crossed that the rest comes a little easier and I can share it sooner than later.

Until then, here's another ACEO set completed!

They're hand cut, sanded, painted, assembled. A limited edition of 6. Listed on esty here.

Step away from the canvas

I have a very bad habit of overdoing things. I listen to the same songs over and over, watch the same movies, eat the same foods, until I am utterly sick to death. The same thing applies to making stuff. I have to change things up or else run a very real risk of boredom!

So, after about a week straight of full time (and then some) painting I took a break and created an edition of 10 ACEO's.

They are mounted on the cardstock pages from a vintage photo album. The night sky is layered book pages. The moon is vellum from the same old album.

There's 10 of these handmade lovelies available in the etsy shop HERE

A cheeky robin portrait

A few months ago I got a gift card to Michael's and I decided to buy some canvas'. Now, I wouldn't call myself a painter but the mood does strike every once in a while and I decided that I wanted to try my hand at larger work. I bought several big (well, big for me) canvas'. Here's the first large one completed.

Remember that cheeky robin who kept flying into my windows and pooping on my deck... yeah, that's the bugger.

The painting is acrylic and measures 24" x 36".

Honestly, it was a little bit like torture to do this piece at times. Not used to working on a large scale, timing the painting was difficult and you could totally tell where I left off one day to the next for a while. I think I might have been better off getting a bazillion little canvas' rather than a few large ones. It's going to take me three years to paint all the darn things! That said, I've already got my next painting in mind so it really could not have been all that bad :)

Adventure Theatre Walkthrough

I made a little paper theatre a while back for Alpha Stamps and have been asked to do a little walk through of the project. It may not be little (sometimes I get carried away), but you might find one or two interesting tidbits if you follow along :)

To create the Sea Adventure theatre I used the Punch & Judy Paper Theatre Kit. The kit comes with a black cardstock and old paper pieces. I stuck the two together which gives the piece a little more heft and stability.

When working with paper I prefer to use rubber cement. It sticks really well AND it doesn't wrinkle. The important thing to remember with rubber cement is that it sticks to itself. Coat both pieces of paper with a thin, even layer (remember to go all the way to the edge!) and then press together.

No wrinkles and very little mess!

The next thing I did was to gently score the back side of my pieces. I scored every edge that needed to be folded. This will help to keep your edges even and give you a crisp edge.

 

Scoring the back of the piece keeps the old paper front intact and you won't see the black card poking though any scores that were made too deeply.

Next I start slowly adding edging and details. Here I've used  Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders and some seashells from the Travel Adhesive Borders.

While that's drying I moved on to the roof. To create some visual interest I layered clear black stickers of the Art Deco Travel Ads Collage Sheet

I attach the roof using white glue and hold all the bits in place with clothespegs while it sets. Clothes pegs are so handy to keep around and hold things in place... I've got dozens of them in the studio.

Now I move on to creating the side pieces. I like to edge all of my cut out work with black or brown. I simply run a loaded paintbrush over the edges so that they don't stand out. You can see on the dodo below where I've painted the edge.

Something else I often do is sand my edges. Here is the cut edge of an arch for the sides. Pretty darned bumpity eh?

I just use a bit of regular old sandpaper to smooth those jaggedy bits right down. Much better!

Here's one of the completed arches for the side of the theatre.

To help with the addition of the decorative trim to the roof of this project I used a strip of wood that was about 1/8th" square. I painted it black to help conceal it.

This is glued to the overhang of the roof...

... and makes keeping the trim in place much easier, adding another layer of stability.

The base of my theatre is complete. At this point I'll begin adding more decorative bits.

Here I've added corners to the trim using snippets from Baroque Dresden Borders and the heads from Metallic Mini Brads. I've also added a Metal Hand and placed a faux pearl in it's palm.

The sides get mounted into place and I've added some sea shell charms too.

Next to make is the paper bunting that swags across the top and sides of the theatre. I cut out little triangles of paper, using double sided scrapbook paper. I dab the edges across an inkpad to finish the edges.

With a small dollop of glue on my work surface, I wipe a small amount of glue on the top back edge of the triangle.

On a taut piece of string I place the triangles evenly, leaving a little space between each one to keep it flexible when it dried. When this is dried I can cut the pieces to fit the necessary length I need for my project.

For the little floating ship inside I take a piece of the black wood I painted earlier and glue it to the back.

I used this wave collage sheet and, with rubber cement, attach the images to scraps of the black card from the theatre kit. (Psst... If waves aren't your thing Alpha Stamps has a selection of collage sheets featuring different backdrops to fit this theatre.)

Bending the edges I'll be able to attach them to the interior of the theatre. I placed them at about 1/2 inch intervals, giving a 3d effect.

Here are all the wavy bits installed. The ship and the light house are from the  Travel Stamps Varnished Paper.

A few more additional touches to the exterior including a Compass Button and the bunting we made earlier and it's complete!

Ta Da! Here's the whole thing totally fancy and gussied to the gills :)

***ETA: Alpha Stamps has all of the materials to create this theatre on sale until June 2nd! Hop over to the blog for details :)

The Mystery Project

What is this lowly little mushroom? Well, I was lucky enough to squeeze in to the Art House Co-op "Mystery Project". I was sent a surprise prompt and a Prismacolor marker and then set out to make a bit of public art.

My prompt was "If tomorrow came yesterday" and my marker was a sort of brown.... hmmm. What to do!?!?! Panic! Fret! When I finished over reacting, I wrote a nonsense poem with the given theme in mind.

If tomorrow came yesterday,
what would Thursday bring?
Would Tuesday be on Sunday,
and would Santa come in Spring?

If next week was last month,
and October was in May -
would breakfast be at midnight,
and bedtime at mid-day?

If the sun came up at dusk
and the moon came out at dawn,
what time would the fireflies
go dancing on the lawn?

I then made 15 mushroom caps from paperclay and coloured them using my fancy Prismacolour marker. Next, I printed out my poem and rolled it up, holding it in place with a bit of lace.

 The poems became the stems for the mushrooms/toadstools.

The last step? Hiding those wee things for strangers to find! The one pictured below is sitting outside of the YMCA in Trenton, Ontario. The rest will be hidden all over Brighton this week :)

 xoxo

P.S. Happy mother's to all the great mamma's out there! Hope your tomorrow is grand :)

I'm looking over...

... a four and a half leafed clover!

It's been a while since I found a four leafed clover and I was getting worried that perhaps I'd lost my lucky mojo. Happily, this morning the faerie folk placed this bit of magic in my tracks. Finding a four leaf clover makes me feel as though the day can't be all that bad and that I'm sort of being looked after.

In crafty news... here's a c ouple more sea themed items made from Alpha Stamps goodies.

 

As you can see, I'm sort of into paper hats at the moment. I'm almost tempted to wear one while riding the lawn tractor this morning. I could belt out a few sea shanties to complete the 'complete nutter' theme.

(*Pssst... If you want to make your own sea themed something, why no hop over to alphastamps.com for a tutorial on creating a lovely sea themed shrine by the fabulous Rhea Freitag) 

What a difference a year (or two) makes

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the day we got the keys to this old place.

This house and it's hills grabbed me, saved me, swept me away from the nightmare we were living in and plonked us down in the middle of a fairy land.

This old place with it's creaks and wobbles, with it's 1980's wallpaper and pink carpeting. This old place that I love, and would happily spend the rest of my days in.

This weekend only, use the coupon code "TwoGreatYears" when you check out at the etsy shop, and get 20% off your purchase :)

The Mad Hatters Tea

I've never worked on an Alice in Wonderland piece before. I don't remember reading the book as kid, but  I do still have my childhood copy the Lewis Carroll classic. The Tim Burton flick must have touched on something deep inside my mind (as deep as my mind runs anyway) because it gave me terrible nightmares.

I dusted off my old copy of Alice's adventures and have started to re-introduce myself to the story and it's characters.

The visuals that are stirred up while reading it are wonderful. Almost every page is bringing new snippets of inspiration. And all that nonsense! It's all very charming.

The size of the actual box, not including the dodads, is approximately 7 x 8.57". Much of the imagery, and that glorious little spoon, comes from alphastamps.com

This piece is now listed in the etsy shop

Sail away...

I'm having a grand time on the Alpha Stamps design team. To be sent a box of delicious crafting goodies and then be set free to make glorious messes. How lucky can a gal get?

The little sail boat above is just 5" tall and includes uses the Kraft Postcard,  Bathing Beauties #2 Collage Sheet, Brass Starfish Charm, Art Deco Travel Ads (Clear Black Sticker), Half-Round Dresden Border and one the absolutely gorgeous Travel Adhesive Borders.

Now, skip on over to specialtyontario.com to read my interview with them. It's a wonderful showcase of the fabulous things Ontario has to offer.

xoxo

P.S. Stamps are going out tomorrow. Sorry I'm late but I kept forgetting to buy stamps!

An inspiration gone...

Maurice Sendak died today and I've got a case of the sads.

It wasn't until adulthood, when I started reading to my kidlet, that I discovered Mr. Sendak's work. It wasn't love at first sight, but over time it became deep respect and admiration. That's the best kind of love if you ask me.

I'm a rockstar!

Ok, not really. But I do feel  very fancy indeed because a gorgeous glossy local magazine, County and Quinte Living, did an article on my work.

Veronica Leonard wrote such lovely things about my work and made me sound very, very nice. I couldn't be more thrilled or grateful :)

Also in arty news, I've been invited to join the board of the Brighton Arts Council. I'm so excited about being part of the BAC. It really is the most amazing group of talented, kind and generous people you could hope to meet. If you aren't a member of your local arts council, I highly recommend joining.

Now, I'm off to do the floors.... eeesh! They are a fright.

xoxo

P.S. Anyone else not seeing the "Follow" option on the top blogger bar when they go a-visitin' other blogs? I only see 'Share' now and it's driving me nuts!